Vehicle and vehicle control system

ABSTRACT

A slurry hose transportation system has a plurality of powered carts supporting the slurry hose or hoses. Some of the carts are in storage, some are being conveyed out of storage, and some are in use. While the carts are in storage they are in an unpowered or &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;parked&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; state. While being conveyed, the carts are turned on as they pass to the use state and turned off as they pass to the storage state. Command signals to the carts can then only affect the carts in actual use.

United States Patent 91 Tarter VEHICLE AND VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM [75] lnventor: James H. Tarter, Royal Oak, Mich.

[73] Assignee: Continental Oil Company, Ponca City, Okla.

[22] Filed: Dec. 26, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 318,350

[52] US. Cl .[137/344, l37/355.17, 302/64, 141/387 [51] Int. Cl. 865g 53/54 [58] Field of Search 137/344, 355.12, 355.16, l37/355.l7; 239/212, 213, 189, 196; 299/18,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,722,409- 11/1955 Bergmann 299/18 X 2,803,498 8/1957 Touton 137/344 3,190,696 6/1965 Stalker 299/18 X MINING MACHINE [45] Aug.6,1974

3,233,850 2/1966 Merker et a1. 137/344 X 3,301,599 1/1967 Heimaster 299/18 3,317,143 5/1967 Turner 239/189 3,362,752 1/1968 Densmore. 137/344 X 3,477,643 11/1969 Bruninga... 239/189 X 3,590,854 7/1971 Cork 137/355.l6

3,651,882 3/1972 Locsch 137/344 X 3,729,016 4/1973 Linsomc 137/344 Primary ExaminerHenry T. Klinksiek Attorney, Agent, or FirmWilliam J. Miller [5 7] ABSTRACT A slurry hose transportation system has a plurality of powered carts supporting the slurry hose or hoses. Some of the carts are in storage, some are being conveyed out of storage, andsome are in use. While the carts are in storage they are in an unpowered or parked" state. While being conveyed, the carts are turned on as they pass to the use state and turned off as they pass to the storage state. Command signals to the carts can then only affect the carts in actual use.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures SURFACE SEPARATOR PAIENTEnms emu SHEET '1 BF 3 PAIENTEU AUG 6 I974 SHEET 2 [IF 3 PATENTEU AUG 1 74 FIG. 3

sum 3 BF 3 3 PHASE JUNCTION AC BOX g L 14/ PRESSURE ELECTRIC MOTOR SWITCH STARTER STOP START I i l I46 E, I42 143 r A 1 T 05135:? CHARGE START PRESSURE ACTUATED SIGNAL IMPULSE SWITCH #59 EMERG. STOP HYDRAULIC PUMP CONTROL SYSTEM HYDRAULIC VEHICLE AND VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a means for controlling a plurality of powered carts which is supporting a slurry hose system. In the aforementioned system, some of the slurry hose system is in storage, some is being conveyed for use, and some is in actual use. That portion in actual use must follow the undulations of the mining machine moving back and forth as the mining machine works a vein of product such as coal. Control signals from the mining machine to each of the powered carts signal the direction and rate of movement of the mining machine that the carts and hence the slurry system must follow. These control signals, however, must not be transferred to the carts supporting the slurry hose in storage in a manner to cause these carts to attempt to respond to said signals. This invention relates to providing control by deactivation or activation of the hydraulic propulsion system as the carts pass over the conveyer to either storage or active use respectively. Deactivation or activation is accomplished by a conveyertriggered switch electrically operating a memory relay which in turn deactivates or activates the electrical controls for the cart propulsion system.

DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART Prior art relating to the above system is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,548, entitled Method and Apparatus for Continuously Mining and Transporting Coal by E. H. Reichl. In the patent a coal digging machine is connected to a terminal through a pair of flexible pipes. These flexible pipes are nonsupported but have a slightly greater length than they needed to go from the termination of the fixed pipes to the coal digging machine. Thus some storage is provided by the excessive length of the hose. The invention thus disclosed, however, does not take into consideration the excessive wear which will result from hoses which are made principally of steel reinforced rubber. These hoses may weigh as much as 100 pounds per foot when full, and movement of a hose of this weight over the rough surface of a mine passage floor will result in early failure of the hose. Furthermore, when the mining machine makes a 90 turn, there is no way to successfully move the hose around the turn.

Neither the above patent nor any other teaching known describes a slurry hose support and transportation system which comprises a storage section, a means for conveying the hose and support vehicle out of storage and an active, working section. Furthermore, no teaching suggests the approach of parking the stored vehicles and deactivating them while they are in the stored or parked position and having a means for conveying them out of storage and turning the carts on so that they can respond to the control signals from the mining machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a schematic layout of the slurry hose support and hauling system and its interconnection with the mining machine and its associated equipment and with the underground and surface equipment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conveyer having a control switch cam mounted thereon;

FIG. 3 is an end view of a powered cart showing the location of the activation-deactivation relay and cam;

and

FIG. 4 is an electrical schematic of the control system of a powered cart.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The same numbers will be used throughout the specification for the same or similar parts.

Referring to all of the drawings but in particular to FIG. 1, a mine digging machine 10 has the product loosened by machine 10 and picked up by a conveyer 11. The product 12 is dropped into a crusher 13, which may be any usual type crusher such as a roll crusher or jaw crusher, and may include means for separating the material that does not need to be crushed and crushing only the larger material. Crushers are well known and will not be further discussed. The material from the crusher is dropped into a hopper 14 which contains water. A water level control 15 applies a continuous signal through line 16 to a valve 17 which is connected to a water line 18. Water line 19 is connected to valve 17 and to a plurality of slots (not shown) communicating with the interior of the hopper.

A slurry pump 20 has its inlet connected to the outlet 21 of hopper 14. Slurry pump 20 has an outlet 22 con nected to a slurry hose 23. Hose 24 is connected to water line 18. Both hoses 23 and 24 are supported upon a slurry transportation system which essentially comprises a plurality of carts 25 connected by linkage 26. A conveyer 27 controls the movement of the carts, linkage and pipe assembly around turn 28. The termination of the water hose 24 and slurry hose 23 is at a remote terminal 29. A surface separator 30 may be connected to remote terminal 29 through any well known system 31 such as a pipe line.

The operation of the overall system functions as follows:

As the mining machine 10 removes product 12, it is carried up by conveyer l1 and passed to crusher 13 where it is deposited in hopper 14. Pump 20 pulls the slurry mixture from the hopper and passes it into line 23 where it is eventually received at a remote terminal 29, pumped to the surface through pipe line 31, and separated by separator 30. As mining machine 10 works in and out of the coal seam, the slurry hose must follow these movements. Cart 25, through a servo mechanism, will follow the in and out movements of the mining machine. A portion of the slurry line between the conveyer 27 and the remote terminal 29 functions as a storage. Thus as additional length of hose is needed, conveyer 27 will move in the direction of arrow 32, shortening the amount in storage and lengthening the amount of slurry hose which can penetrate the mine room with the mining machine. In order to accomplish the above, however, conveyer 27 must move the carts 25, including the slurry hose supported by it, from the position in storage to a position where it can be utilized by the mining machine. Conveyer 27 accomplishes the transition from storage to active use by lifting the carts upon the conveyer surface and moving the carts through 180. The conveyer will move in the direction of arrow 33 when additional storage is needed or in the direction of arrow 32 when less storage is needed. The conveyer further restricts the hose to a definite radius, thereby preventing excess flexing or bending.

A cam 34 is mounted on conveyer 27 for control of the activation and deactivation of the powered carts. Cam 34 is better illustrated by reference to FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2 the conveyer referred to as number 27 in FIG. 1 is better illustrated and has a platform 40 and side platforms 41 and 42. Platforms 41 and 42 are attached to platform 40 through a plurality of hinges 43. At the end of platforms 40, 41 and 42 is a plurality of spring-biased (not shown) ramps 44 which are generally in the up position until being pushed to the floor by the application of weight. A center guide rail 45 is formed into a 180 configuration and attached normal to the surface of each of the platforms 40, 41 and 42. A plurality of wheels 46 provides mobility to the ramp. A tractor 47 is connected through a pair of arms 48a and 48b to the underside of platform 40.

The slurry system utilizing the conveyer essentially comprises a powered cart 25 and one or more unpowered carts 51. Powered cart 25 includes an electric motor and hydraulic pump assembly 52 connected to hydraulic motors 102 (see FIG. 3) which turns wheels 53. Both the powered and unpowered carts contain a hose clamp 54. Activation and deactivation cam 34 is attached to guide rail 45 and attached by a pair of bolts 68. The conveyer operates by rollers or discs 60 engaging guide rail 45 giving proper clearance to linkage 55 and properly locating the powered cart 25 and unpowered cart 51 around the conveyer. Location is also important to insure that cam 34 engages the switch (to be discussed) on the powered carts, thereby properly energizing or de-energizing the carts.

POWERED VEHICLE A powered vehicle or cart is illustrated by referring to FIG. 3 and essentially comprises a chassis 99 and drive wheels 53 coupled to hydraulic motors 102 through a shaft (not shown). A hydraulic pump 104 is driven by an electric motor 105. A control valve 62 is coupled to hydraulic pump 104 which provides fluid control to hydraulic motors 102. The control lever 63 coupled to valve 62 is capable of controlling the speed of motors 102 from a stopped position to full power in either direction. Valve 62 is controlled by a control rod, for example, 64, which is coupled to the vehicle in front of and behind the vehicle illustrated. A hose mounting bracket 54 is attached to chassis or frame 99 through shafts 65 which are journaled in bearings 111. A relay control switch 144 is attached to frame 99 by means of screws 66 or any other usual means. A conveyor actuated switch 159 is set to actuate upon contact with cam 34 which is attached to guide rail 45 by usual means such as screws 68. Cam 34 is an arcuate cam which will urge conveyor actuated switch 159 up, throwing switch 144. A rubber boot 69 protects switch 144 from dirt, for example.

The operation of the powered carts is as follows:

Power is applied to a cable 130 which is connected to electric motor 105, energizing same, which operates hydraulic pump 104. This pump creates a hydraulic pressure which is controlled by valve 62 (see FIG. 3). Any movement of control cable 64 will cause arm 63 to pivot forward or backward permitting fiow of hydraulic fluid to hydraulic motors 102. Each wheel 53 has its own hydraulic motor. Thus, as valve 62 is operated, the hydraulic fluid will pass to motors 102, causing them to rotate clockwise or counterclockwise and with a horsepower proportional to the number of degrees valve arm 63is moved; and the direction of rotation will be dependent upon the direction from neutral that arm 63 is moved. When switch 144 strikes cam 34, then switch actuator 159 is operated, causing opening or closing of the motor circuit (to be subsequently described) de-energizing or energizing the motor and corresponding hydraulic circuits.

ELECTRICAL CONTROL The electric control for thecarts is illustrated in FIG. 4. The electrical components are. in the preferred embodiments of this invention, distributed between two vehicles with a junction box 140, a motor starter 141, and relays 142, 143, and 145 mounted on an unpowered vehicle (not shown) in an explosion-proof box. A pressure switch 146, a conveyer switch 144 which has an actuator 159, and emergency stop 147 are mounted on the powered vehicle 50. A three-phase ac. line 130, which may, for example, be 575 volts is used to operate electric motors and is transmitted along the hose line in electric cables 150.

The operation of the above is as follows:

Starter 141 is energized by closing a relay across its starter terminals. It is stopped by opening a set of normally closed contacts 142 across its stop terminals. A stop signal will override a conflicting start signal. Primary control of the starter 141 is by means of two relays, a normally closed relay 142 associated with'the stop terminal and a normally open relay 145 across the start terminals. These relays are controlled from one or both ends of the hose lines. At this time it is presumed that primary electric control will be from the fixed end of the hose line, but the system accommodates control from the pump vehicle end also. Actuation of a switch at the control end of the hose line will actuate all start relays 145 or all stop relays 142 simultaneously. This will start or stop all hose line electric motors except those on the stationary side of the loop.

Vehicles on the stationary side of the loop are parked, and it is not desired that the electric motor on these vehicles be started until they pass over the traveling conveyer 27. A limit switch 144 is mounted on each powered vehicle which is actuated by a lever 159 when the vehicle passes over conveyer 27. Switch 159, which is normally open, has a dual set of contacts. One set of contacts is placed across the start terminal of the starter. The other set of contacts is used to control an impulse relay 143 placed in series with the main stop relay 142. An impulse relay is a mechanically latching relay whose contacts open and close on alternate actuation pulses; that is, if the impulse relay contacts are closed and the voltage is applied to its coil, the contacts open. The next time a voltage is applied to thecoil, the contacts again close. Since latching is mechanical, the impulse relay stays in the condition to which it was last actuated even though all electric power is turned off. This enables a powered vehicle to remember which side of the conveyer it is on. When the vehicle is on the parked side of the loop and travels over the conveyer, the conveyer operated switch 159 closes the impulse relay and a start signal is applied to the starter. On coming back, the impulse relay is actuated and its contacts open, shutting off the motor.

The emergency stop switch 147, installed on all powered vehicles and possibly on all idler vehicles, may be which can be used to shut down all electric power to the hauler vehicle system. The emergency stop switch could also be hooked up to shut down all electric power to the working face. With this switch an individual anywhere along the line may shut down the whole system if difficulty develops.

A pressure switch 146 will be installed on the charge pump of each hydrostatic transmission. This pressure switch, which is normally open, closes when the charge pump pressure is at the nominal value. This pressure switch transmits a voltage signal back to the main control system which can be used to light a panel lamp which will give the operator visual indication of the status of the system. He will thus have a primary indication that a vehicle is functional and will also have an indication of the location of the traveling conveyer.

Control of the electric motors will require five lines 160 running the length of the system. An additional line 161 running the length of the system for each pressure switch will also be required.

CONCLUSIONS A system has been disclosed wherein each vehicle or cart that is in storage is parked without power consumption and cannot respond to command signals from the mining machine. As the vehicle is conveyed from storage, its power and also its ability to respond to commands is energized. It is obvious, of course, that other methods and apparatus can be incorporated and still be within the spirit and scope of this invention. For example, other means can be incorporated to turn on or off the power on the powered vehicle, and other means can be utilized to disengage the command system for the stored vehicle and still be within the spirit and scope of the invention. While the preferred embodiment illustrates the various switches as either being normally open or normally closed, the particular electrical configuration used will determine the actual contact conditions of the switches and relay.

What is claimed is:

1. In a slurry hose transportation system having a plurality of powered carts supporting said slurry hose, said slurry hose transportation system having a portion in storage where said carts are inactive, means conveying a portion from storage, and the remainder in active use, means on said conveying means for selectively deactivating each of said powered carts as it is conveyed into storage and for selectively activating each of said powered carts as it is conveyed into use.

2. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 1 wherein said means for deactivation and for activation comprises a prime hydraulic pump, an electric motor means having an electric input means, said electric motor means drivingly interconnected with said hydraulic pump, cart propulsion means, hydraulic drive means interconnected between said prime hydraulic pump and said propulsion means, an electric switch means in series with said electric input means to said electric motor, and means on said conveyer to actuate said electric switch.

3. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 2 wherein said means on said conveyer comprises a cam.

4. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 2 wherein said electric switch means comprises a switch on each of said powered carts, a source of power, an impulse mechanical latching relay having a first open circuit position and a second closed circuit position and a coil on said relay connected through said switch to said source of power, and means for interconnecting said electric input means through said closed circuit position to said source of power. 

1. In a slurry hose transportation system having a plurality of powered carts supporting said slurry hose, said slurry hose transportation system having a portion in storage where said carts are inactive, means conveying a portion from storage, and the remainder in active use, means on said conveying means for selectively deactivating each of said powered carts as it is conveyed into storage and for selectively activating each of said powered carts as it is conveyed into use.
 2. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 1 wherein said means for deactivation and for activation comprises a prime hydraulic pump, an electric motor means having an electric input means, said electric motor means drivingly interconnected with said hydraulic pump, cart propulsion means, hydraulic drive means interconnected between said prime hydraulic pump and said propulsion means, an electric switch means in series with said electric input means to said electric motor, and means on said conveyer to actuate said electric switch.
 3. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 2 wherein said means on said conveyer comprises a cam.
 4. A slurry hose transportation system as described in claim 2 wherein said electric switch means comprises a switch on each of said powered carts, a source of power, an impulse mechanical latching relay having a first open circuit position and a second closed circuit position and a coil on said relay connected through said switch to said source of power, and means for interconnecting said electric input means through said closed circuit position to said source of power. 